Bob Says Hello
by rain the great
Summary: "No. Don't you realise how useless this is? I mean all of this. The battles, the war, the Gods?" As Percy said this, his face was eerily calm. Piper struggled against the urge to back away from him. Basically a bunch of one shots. Read if you feel like reading angsty stuff.
1. I Can

Disclaimer: I do not own Rick Riordan's books or characters...

It was midnight on the Argo II when Piper woke up to the silence. It wasn't like she had a nightmare or anything... She had simply opened her eyes and when she looked to her side, her clock read "4:45." She blinked away the last few doses of sleep, and after her head cleared the murk, she stepped out of her bed. Piper decided to let her footsteps take control and wandered mindlessly around the ship. The place was pierced with darkness, but she knew the Argo by heart. Piper hadn't bothered to put on a shoe as her bare feet felt all the rough ridges and bumps of the wooden planks underneath her soles. She shivered from the crisp air surrounding her.

As Piper walked around with the tips of her fingers gliding across the wall on her right, she started to think. Think not about the present, nor the future with gaea and all, but she thought about the past. She thought about all that had happened and sighed. She felt old. Maybe not as older than some of the other members of the seven, but she certainly felt as if she had lost the innocence she had when she was back home listening to the Cherokee stories her father sang to her.

Piper's fingers continued tracing lines on the walls until she was stopped by a door that led to the deck. She pushed open the door just as a gust of ocean wind blew through her. Her kaleidoscope eyes took in the surrounding. It was a clear night where bright spectacles danced across the universe. The vastness of the ocean was tinged silver from the unbitten moon above, and the rhythmic beating of the tide lulled the ship through the night.

 _Peace_. She scoffed dryly at the irony. Such tranquility in such chaos.

She was just about to walk over to the dock's railings when her eyes caught sight of a humanoid figure. Piper felt adrenaline kick into her system as her breath shortened. She slowly unsheathed her dagger and tiptoed towards. She raised her weapon and was just about to plow it down on whatever it was when the figure swirled around and caught her arm before she could do anything. Piper instinctively stiffened.

"Percy?" Her voice wavered as the adrenaline left her.

"Piper?"

"Ya, its me." Piper replied

"Oh, hey! ... Uhh.. So... Umm... Hey!"

Piper stifled a laugh, noting how he wasn't exactly the smooth talker she had thought he was. Piper's eyes adjusted to the darkness and relaxed as she took in the familiar face. Seeing Percy itching the back of neck and shifting stiffly in place, Piper became aware of how awkward he was around her. Except for the special occasions where they would plan out battle plans or scream at each other "Duck!" or "Behind you!" Piper had never conversed with Percy with himself alone.

"So... What brings you out here?" Percy asked, desperate to keep some form of conversation going.

"Just wanted some fresh air I guess. I could be asking you the same. It's like almost 5 right now."

Percy Jackson fidgeted with the beads of his camp necklace. His eyes flickered to the ground and he had seem to have found sudden interest in his shoelaces. He ran his fingertips over the engravings of the last bead and stayed silent for a moment.

Piper mentally slapped herself as realization rammed into her. Of course it's the nightmares; _he's been through tartarus, you idiot!_

"You don't have have to answer. I wasn't thinking, you know about tartarus and nightmares and... I'll shut up now." she stuttered, face hot from the flash of embarrassment.

"No! I mean... It's ok... I mean I'm ok... I mean... I didn't have nightmares..."

"If it isn't because of nightmares, then why-" Piper asked before she stopped herself. She caught herself staring into him, studying him. She then noticed the tolls taken from tartarus.

Percy had lost weight... a lot of it. His face looked gaunt, and even under the coverage of a baggy sweatshirt, she could imagine his thin frame. His tan skin lost pigment except for the dark purple shadows beneath his eyes. He was in desperate need for a haircut as locks threatened to fall past his eyes. His eyes... They looked frozen, hollow. Piper wondered if they were seeing at all. Percy wasn't suppose to be up here. He was suppose to be at the sick bay.

"Percy, you look terrible. Did you even sleep at all?"

"I'm fine, Piper."

Piper eyed him skeptically.

"Seriously, I'm okay. Who knew making toilets explode could be so exhausting?" Percy tried for a smile; it came out as a twitch.

"No, Percy. Seriously. Tell me. Tell me what's going on" She wasn't buying his act any more.

"Look, I'll fix the plumbing by morning. As for fixing the actual toilet..."

"Stop changing the subject. You're always locked inside your room; this is the first time I've seen you this whole day you know? Tell me what happened down there. Are you even eat-" The guy looked like he was going to collapse any second now, and the fact that he kept avoiding Piper's eyes made her even more concerned

"I'm fine! I'm okay..." Percy ran his hands through his hair, a habit Piper noticed he did when he felt frustrated. Piper wondered whether he was saying that to her or himself.

"Percy, please?"

Uncomfortable silence fell upon them as Percy looked conflicted about what to do. He leaned heavily on the metal railing next to him, and Piper pretended not to notice crimson seeping through his bandaged leg. Ignoring the fact that the guy looked like he'd recently been hit by a truck, without Riptide in his hand, Percy Jackson looked almost human. Almost.

The silence drove Piper insane. She even considered charmspeaking when Percy let out a sigh.

"Maybe Gaea was right."

"Percy, don't listen to her. She tells me some horrible stuff too, but she's just trying to manipula-"

"No. Don't you realise how useless this is? I mean all of this. The battles, the war, the _Gods_?" As Percy said this, his face was eerily calm. Piper struggled against the urge to back away from him.

"Percy, you have every right in the world to be angry at the gods. But the gods are better than Gaea." She hoped he hadn't noticed the uncertainty in her voice as she said this.

"Are they?"

Piper couldn't answer, and Percy took advantage of her silence.

"You should've seen what it was like down there. I mean, there was _so many_ monsters. There was that cyclops I killed a few years back, the karpos I killed a few weeks ago... And I started to think, _how stupid of me?_ To think that I could actually get a shot at life if I defeat just one more telekhine or just one more gorgon. Don't you get it? Demigods only get to live once, but monsters never die, doors of death closed or not. Even if we defeat Gaea, she'll come back again and again and again..."

Percy closed his eyes as if he were reliving Tartarus again. Piper felt the urge to do something, anything. The crew needed Percy and if he was giving up on hope now, then she wasn't sure if they'd even have a chance at winning the war. Yet, Piper didn't say anything because deep inside the back of her head, she knew Percy was right. She remembered what her mother had said to her once _'Give me a hero, and I'll write you a tragedy.'_

"The Gods are powerless; they can't protect us. All they do is hide up in the clouds while their children does all the dirty work. They take us for granted, Piper. But Gaea...Gaea is different... She's powerful. She can protect us. We can _live_."

Percy's eyes, which was hopeless and dull, now gleamed. Gleamed with evil. This wasn't right. This wasn't Percy. What he had just said reminded her of a monster... it... I mean _he_ reminded her of Gaea. Piper had to talk to him. She needed to tell him this was wrong. But the lump in her stomach made it impossible for her to use charmspeak.

"Percy, power isn't everything"

"Power is _everything_ "

Percy's eyes seemed to be glowing in the dark.

"We may not be as powerful as Gaea, but we've still made it this far haven't we? That's gotta count for something, right?" Piper sounded desperate.

"Percy, you are strong. You defeated Kronos for gods' sakes! You saved millions of lives" She recounted her experience in Camp Half Blood: the stories of Percy and Annabeth's quests, the Battle of Manhattan- Percy was a legend.

Percy's let out a dry laugh. His eyes gleamed like a mad man, churning angrily, with no hints of the beautiful sea green she had once seen before he and Annabeth plummeted into the pit. Percy started laughing harder, clutching his stomach and gasping for air. Piper watched him with pure horror.

" _Me_? _Saving_ people? You should tell that joke to Leo. I bet you heard that from Camp Half Blood. I'm sorry to burst your bubble, but the stories they told you are lies. I mean sure, I've been through a couple of quests and earned some brownie points for helping someone here and there, but I don't _save_ people, Piper."

Suddenly, Percy stopped laughing and his face contorted into something Piper could only describe as cruelty. His knuckles turned white as he clutched the railing a bit tighter than he had to.

"But have you heard the full story, the real version? If anything, I can tell you this; I'm not the person you, or the seven, or the rest of the world thinks I am. I'm not a "leader" or a "hero." I'm a mother fucking monster! And you know it; you're scared of me."

"Percy, you're not a monster." Piper mentally cursed at herself as her voice wavered as she said this.

Percy's voice got louder. The ocean churned violently, nearly flipping the ship over. The cacophony of sark salt water clashing into each other flooding the deck. His breath was coming in deep angry staccatos as he made no effort to control the turbulence. Percy was soaked as if his powers were going haywire. Piper didn't know what to do. She needed him to calm down, but she was scare out of her mind. Percy went on.

"I'm the one who killed Bianca! There, I said it. I'm the one who killed her along with Beckendorf and Michael Yew and Silena and Ethan Nakamura... They all died because of _me_! I'm the one who made my mom's life a living _hell_! And... And I'm the one... I'm... _Bob_..."

Then Percy did something Piper had _never_ seen him do. He slid down against the railing onto the wooden floor. Then Percy Jackson started crying. Percy never cries.

Piper kneeled down beside him and held him. He sobbed into her shoulder, hand clutching onto her T-shirt as if it were his lifeline. She just held him there, caressing his hair as tears soaked her shoulder. His sobs ricocheted through his skin, muscle, bone.

"I don't know what to do anymore." He croaked.

Percy's eyes met Piper's. Gone was the Percy with the glowing eyes. What was left of him was a boy; a boy who had suffered before and wasn't sure he could do it again.

"Everybody thinks that I'm the perfect hero, that I'll "save them all." But I _Can't_... The people who trust me with their lives... I'm not powerful enough to protect them. I try! I try _so_ _hard_. I train and train, but no matter how much I train, I'm not able to defeat monsters that are thousands of years older than me." PErcy looked as if he were tormented- tormented by a past he couldn't undo until death released him from it's hard grip. Percy's hands were shaking.

"Hey... Hey! It's just the pressure coming to you? It's okay..." Piper realized that there was no such thing as _the_ Percy Jackson. He was just Percy- just a boy that's scared and angry at all that the world stripped him of.

"Personal loyalty." Percy whispered.

"What?" Piper wasn't sure if she had heard that correctly.

"Personal loyalty... It's my fatal flaw. Athena told me once that I would sacrifice the whole world for the people I love. But what good is that gonna do if I can't save them either. "

Realization dawned on Piper as she now understood why Percy felt this way. It was his fatal flaw. Piper wanted to tell him that it was okay again, that everything was going to turn out fine. But she couldn't lie to him anymore. All that she could do for him was just be there with him, watching the stars. It was then when Piper found out that Percy won't break... Because he was broken too long ago.

"Now that you know what I really am, why are you still next to me?" Percy asked with such pain and self hatred in his quiet voice.

Before Piper could say anything, Percy stood up and walked away, leaving Piper to sit there and sort things out.

Piper watched as he walked towards the doors, and as she did so, she could've sworn she saw him mutter something along the lines of, "Bob" and "hello."

The next day Piper went to breakfast

Percy Jackson was sitting on his usual spot next to Annabeth. Piper just looked pitifully at him as he laughed and made sarcastic jokes with the crew. When he saw Piper come in, he greeted her cheerfully as if yesterday never happened. Just when she thought he could trust her with his vulnerability, he had built a stronger wall, encasing himself under a mask of coping. He couldn't stop wearing that mask, for he didn't know any other way. Piper wasn't fooled anymore. Under that layer of the sparkling sea green eyes, she saw his little game of "let's play pretend".

I see you Percy... All I, Piper Mclean, can do for you is hope for the best.


	2. Secrets

'Thirty more minutes.' He thought as he waited for his night shift to end.

Jason leaned over the railing of Argo II as his eyes reached over the salt water. As opposed to the majestic view of the Atlantic's sunrise, the ocean's midnight was eerie and distant. He took notice of the ocean's such dual characteristics and mindlessly wondered if Poseidon's offspring bore similar traits. The sails flapped harshly from the chilling wind, and its sway made Jason feel sick. He willed the salty ocean air into his lungs and exhaled. Jason closed his eyes and slowly allowed the rhythmic sounds of the tides to numb himself from his surroundings.

Jason was brought back to reality when suddenly there was a shift in the night as the waves grew agitated. Alarmed, Jason looked around blindly in the dark. Right when he decided that the coast was clear and relaxed his muscles, he heard a shrill scream echo from out the distance.

Jason tensed, flipping his coin as the familiar imperial golden sword replaced it. Adrenaline began to kick in while he squinted into the water below. He silently cursed at the night for being so damn dark. His eyes darted left and right just as he caught sight of a scaly green tail flickering out of the water. He gripped his sword tighter and gathered the surrounding wind around him to propel him to the sky. He hovered over the railing, anticipating for the right timing for him to stab it.

Jason eyed the water intensely, while on the opposite end of the Argo, another figure made his way towards the deck.

Percy reached towards his night stand and pressed to stop the clock's incandescence. He wondered why he set an alarm in the first place; it wasn't like he was going to sleep anyways... "3:00" was etched glowing red in the surrounding pitch black air and illuminated it's red cast onto a white container sitting next to it.

In Percy's world, people eat ambrosia to stop bleeding, drank nectar to cure concussions; covered themselves with sheep's wool to mend the bones. And so the half empty bottle of sleeping pills Percy smuggled from a local CVS felt a bit out of place. The pills were a people thing- something that humans use. The pills weren't much effective in helping him sleep, but taking it sometimes allowed Percy to play a game of pretend where he would play human. To him, the pills gave him a sense of illusioned humanity. He longingly stared at the white container... some would even say that he looked as if he were craving it...

Percy gave a heavy sigh and slid his legs off the bed. He then made this way towards the deck, steps echoing emptily through the ship's hallway.

The second he opened the door to the deck, he was greeted with a blast of wind, and droplets of salt water sprayed over board. He spotted Jason hovering over the churning waves, blindedly swinging his sword at the tides. There was a flash of green scales penetrating from the sea, but disappeared as quickly as it had appeared.

"Hey, Perce! Wanna help me out a bit?" Jason asked when he caught Percy entering the deck.

Jason was waiting for the dragon to surface again when suddenly the sea exploded and the monster jumped onto the deck, breaking the metal railing of the Argo as it did so. Percy flinched as it's shrill scream pierced through the midnight air as he reached into his jean pocket for riptide. Riptide didn't disappoint as Percy quickly uncapped it and ran into battle.

Sparks flew as Percy ran riptide across the monster's metallic body, but it's thick scales were left with barely a scratch. On the corner of his eyes, he saw Jason attempting to repeatedly stab the dragon behind it's back. The thing didn't even notice. Meanwhile, the sky darkened and it didn't take long before rain poured through the musty, aggravating the tides even more.

"This isn't working, it's scales are too thick! Dude, you're gonna have to do your Poseidon voodoo thing!" Jason yelled over the storm.

"On it Sparky"

"Don't call me Sparky!"

"Sorry... Sparky." Percy smirked and Jason rolled his eyes.

Percy stepped a few feet from the serpent and closed his eyes. He took a deep breath as he felt the familiar tug in his stomach. He willed the water around him to gather onto each other. Every tide, every raindrop, every b-...

Something felt off...

Percy shook off the feeling and mustered his concentration in forming a towering wall of water around the monster. He snapped open his eyes and sent the ocean caving in onto the serpent. The sound of waves crashing into each other as it collapsed thundered through the Argo, and just as when both Percy and Jason expected the serpent to have gone washed out off the deck, the thing screeched and swung its tail across Jason. Jason collided with the ground before he could even yelp. The impact left him sprawled on the floor, coughing his guts out. Instead of being turned to dust, the monster looked more energized than ever as if it had just taken a morning shower and was ready to start the day fresh.

Percy could almost see Annabeth shaking her head at his stupidity. The ocean was the serpent's home turf. Why his dad would ever create such a thing, the world may never know.

"Bro, we need to stab it in its mouth. It's the only part of him not covered in scales"

Percy nodded in acknowledgement, but the feat was easier said than done. The thing's head was placed at least twenty feet high in the air, and last time he checked, Percy wasn't twenty feet tall. He looked at Jason quite enviously as the guy gathered the air around him and flew towards the serpent's mouth. Percy flinched as the monster chomped down on the air, missing Jason by a few inches. Jason held his sword awkwardly with his left hand, and failed quite miserably to reach the thing without getting himself killed.

He thought of slamming the alarm bells to get an advantage in numbers but couldn't bring himself to do it. Not with Annabeth still in the sick bay.

 _Annabeth_.

She would come up to the deck, hobbling up the stairs with her crutches and wouldn't even stop to blink an eye before receiving a blow for him. Percy closed his eyes struggling not to imagine what would happen. Percy knew that the daughter of Athena was a veteran in combat and that with her, he could kill the monster in record time, but he would rather put her into a small box, breath immortality into it, tape it shut, hide her somewhere far away where she could be preserved forever.

Gods, _what_ am I even thinking? Percy felt disgusted at himself for thinking such thing. They promised each other that they'd be in this world _together_ \- that after this nightmare, they'd be living in freedom, not in some isolated box. But she needed rest; she needed to be safe; she needed to be _away_ from all this... from _himself_.

He remembered the face she had made when they were fighting Akhlys. How her eyes widened then hardened into hard grey stones. How her face contorted into an expression he'd only seen once before in his life- the look he'd seen when she looked at the scar on Luke's face. How her feelings of fear and disgust veiled with a mask only Percy had learned to see through.

 _"Stop..." Annabeth looked hesitant as she commanded Percy. Her voice tinged with anguish and desperately searching for the Percy that was not quite there._

 _"Percy... Please..."_

 _And that was all it took for Percy to snap out of it and stop walking through the shattered glass inside him._

After Tartarus, Annabeth had ceased to be just a love interest. If Annabeth told him to do something, he would do it; if Annabeth told him not to, he would not. She was his queen. He was her's and her's only. She had become his universe, his obsession, his literal half.

As the world he and Annabeth lived in grew more unpredictable and insecure, Percy clung onto Annabeth more than necessary. He was so so afraid of losing her because without her, he wasn't sure what would be left of him. And so when Annabeth seemed to be scared away, Percy was more determined than ever to hide away the devil deep deep below where no one can ever even think to find it.

He didn't deserve her. But his selfishness wouldn't allow her freedom.

But listening to the devil felt so good. The whispers urged him to succumb to its inevitability as Percy felt both relief and horror as the thin glass he was walking on finally shattered. It felt wrong but so natural at the same time, and Luke Castellan's lust for power began to make sense.

Percy recounted his encounter with Akhlys again. He recalled every detail as if his senses heightened tenfold at that moment. His eyes had been watery from misery's poison and he had trouble navigating his body through the death mist. Annabeth shouted out to the goddess of poison, trying to distract her from Percy. As Akhlys turned to face her, plants grew around Annabeth and oozed white-green poison. Percy watched as Annabeth flinched at the contact between the poisonous sap and her already mangled angle. That struck a chord in him because _no one_ touches Annabeth. Not Gaea, not Giants, not Titans, and definitely not a minor goddess.

He remembered how he stopped the flow of poison from touching Annabeth. How he reversed its course back towards its owner. How he felt hot and cold as he watched the venom climb up Akhlys. He felt the toxin riding up her eyes and her nose and her mouth, and Akhlys screamed in panic all while Percy laughed. Then he felt her, Akhlys herself. The tears flowing from her eyes, the poison coursing through her insides, the blood pumping through her veins. He remembered how he shuddered with power as he explored her heart, her lungs...

"Percy!"

Percy blinked blankly as he reverted his attention back to the present. Jason was in front of him, shakinging him frantically.

"Percy?... Percy."

"Hmm yeah. Yeah?"

"Percy, stop."

"What?"

"Whatever you're doing right now. Just calm down."

Percy stared back at Jason quizzically then looked past his shoulders. The serpent that they were fighting was frozen on the ground gagging. It screeched in agony as it clawed the the wooden floor and desperately made a failed attempt at coughing up whatever was choking it. It's dilated pupils made contact with Percy, pleading with him.

Percy's eyes widened with horror and forced the water out of the monster. The serpent wretched water out of its lungs and forced ragged breaths of air before quickly sliding back into the water in panic.

It was Jason who broke the silence.

"Bro... _What_ was that?" Jason asked warily.

"I don't know? Maybe it was sick or something."

Jason ignored him.

"Did this ever happen before?"

"What are you talking about?" Percy let out a nervous laugh as he flinched at Jason's steely blue eyes.

"Percy, the thing was choking on water- _your_ water." Jason looked at him sternly

"Does anyone else know about this?"

Percy kept quiet.

"Look, I know the Greek fighting style isn't much of a team effort, but this isn't a solo mission Percy. You can't keep hiding things from us. Secrets are dangerous, especially something like this."

"No no, please... _please_ don't tell anyone. Please Jason..."

"Percy! You can't keep this a secret. You obviously couldn't control it. Uncontrolled power is too dangerous. What if the next time you try this stunt of yours, you accidently do it on one of us? We could help you Percy."

Flashes of Annabeth ran through Percy. Her look of disappointment, shame, dread. If she knew Percy had done this again, she'd be scared away... Away from _him_. Percy couldn't do away. He needed her. He needed her to love him- to accept him. And Percy knew from past experience, Annabeth didn't "accept" monsters. No. She gives them a knife for them to kill themselves with.

"No, Jason... no, please, I won't _ever_ use it again, I promise. It was a mistake- I- It's just some side effect from Tartarus. I swear it'll wear off. So just _please_ Jason keep this a secret" Percy was on the verge of hysteria as he begged Jason.

"At least tell Anna-" Then Jason suddenly couldn't control his speech.

Percy's face darkened and his eyes seemed to glow an unnatural hue of green through his dark hair.

"You will _not_ tell anyone about this. _Especially_ not annabeth." Percy said in fury. Then he let go of Jason.

"... yeah... I got you."

Percy recognized that face. It made him hate himself even more. But he felt better because this was for Annabeth.

Hey guys~ I hope you enjoyed. This story was originally suppose to be about Percy just defeating a monster using his new powers, but as I kept writing, it got a bit more complicated.

I feel like throughout the Heroes of Olympus series, Percy and Annabeth's relationship had evolved into something other than the teenage fling we saw in the PJO series. After Tartarus, it was just so obvious Percy's perspectives on his life and especially annabeth had changed, but Rick hadn't really satisfied me enough with the post-tartarus Percy. So this is my kinda twisted version of Percy's view of Annabeth as being this new found obsession. It's kinda like "You'd sacrifice the world for the person you love," but to the extreme.

Post-tartarus Percy kinda sees Annabeth as his half and quite literally. He's afraid of losing her as if he's afraid of losing a part of himself. And this anxiety grows where he's willing to go to extreme lengths to "protect" her from anything, even himself. He's scared that if Annabeth figures out what he has become, she'll leave him. That probably wouldn't happen but his experience left him paranoid. His sense of morality becomes distorted as Annabeth becomes the center of everything he does (as you can see from the last sentence).

So... yeah! The story didn't really come out like I had wanted to, but it'd be great if you guys can review and comment on it (it's a great motivation for writing)! So let me know down below about your thoughts on... well... literally anything, and criticism and suggestions are totally welcome.


	3. Pertho: to destroy

Burning wood crackled off to the side and warmed the still air of the wooden cabin. Off into the distance, the rhythmic sounds of rolling waves breaking on the shore sighed. The space was edged dark except that a small lamp illuminated its incandescence onto a woman sitting next to a square window. A small crack through the window's glass on the corner failed to veil the specks of stars embedded infinitely in the midnight blue interstellar. The chair croaked back and forth as it rocked against the floor.

A woman in her mid twenties though with eyes that go beyond her years reached up and tucked a fallen strand of hair behind her ear as she looked down at the child in her arms. She caressed the child's sleeping face, noticing his tufts of taupe hair, his small nose, his rose colored lips, his long eyelashes.

 _He's beautiful_

The women couldn't help but let her lips tug at a motherly smile. Early signs of aging unveiled as her eyes crinkled on the corners.

Then the smile disappeared as soon as it had come as she remembered her former interaction earlier in the day.

 _"You have to send him away. Don't get too attached to him Sally, for a hero's fate will always end in tragedy."_

It was the last thing Poseidon said to her before 'getting lost at sea.' Tears prickled at her pale blue eyes, trickled down her cheeks, and fell on the child's cheek. The infant stirred and Sally quickly shoved her hands onto her eyes as an attempt to stop her tears. The child blinked twice, adjusting to the world around him, then looked up with his wide eyes at his mother's sorrowful face. Sally looked into her son's orbs and lost herself in them. His eyes were a shade of green quite unlike the greens of earth; the flecks of blue that embedded themselves in the deep green resembled the sun striked surface of the atlantic ocean. The mother and her son looked at each other like that for quite some time; enough for her to notice how the child's left eye was a shade more bluer than his right. Then the child made a toothless smile full of innocence and wholesomeness at her until hypnos got the best of him, and he retreated back into his quiet slumber.

This was the moment when Sally Jackson decided that she was going to keep the child. She decided that whatever was going to happen in their lives was justified as long as she got to see that smile for a day longer in her life. It was selfish, she knew; but she was innocent back then, and her innocence gave her a illogical sense of invulnerability. And for whatever crazy reason, she believed that her child could destroy his fate and bring happiness to himself.

 _Destroy_ your fate my little _Perseus_.


End file.
